A few things hardly ever change in this series and this season is no different. The Crimson Tide would be all but eliminated from both with a loss to the Tigers, the last remaining unbeaten team in the SEC. LSU boasts the SEC’s second-best rush defense in yards per game (93.7) and has allowed just five touchdowns. I believe both will go over 100 yards in this one, but whomever makes the biggest plays will definitely take a step closer to inning the Heisman Trophy.
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Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football.
“It’s a banger for sure, ” LSU center Ethan Pocic said. LSU is second, Alabama fourth. And while Alabama’s recent dominance is what is fresh in everyone’s mind, it is often forgotten that Les had the edge in their early showdowns.
My Prediction: This game is a toss-up, but it ‘s hard to see Alabama winning the game and taking the spread. People discredit the game because of the lack of scoring, but I loved it. His play at home has been suspect at times but he has played pretty well overall. The players are ready to answer on the biggest day of the college football season. And of course, Alabama is dominant as always. When Alabama is hitting long field goals, you know it’s not going to be your night.
Questions are also raised about Fournette’s Heisman candidacy.
Lets look at the facts.
But expect the LSU defensive backs to step up and be a potential x-factor in this game. That marked the Rebels’ second SEC loss, so even though they’d beaten Alabama on September 19, the one-loss Tide suddenly controlled their destiny in the conference.
Now they have one more game before their bye week, and, man, it’s an important one.
“The guy’s having a great year”, Saban said of Henry. Fournette has gained 1,352 yards and run for 15 touchdowns.
Together, they made life miserable for LSU, which gave up a season-high 160 yards to Auburn, 127 yards against Syracuse and 103 yards against Western Kentucky in its undefeated start. It is no coincidence that Fournette’s production dropped off slightly when Moore got injured. In the receiving end, Travin Dural had 132 yards and one touchdown in five catches while Malachi Dupre added 86 yards and one touchdown in three receptions. The Tide has earned victories over three ranked opponents this season, including two in the top 10.
The biggest X-factor between the two quarterbacks is their mobility. Both are very tough to stop and should have a big impact on tonight’s game. In preseason they were picked to win the SEC, partly because of the hiring of Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator. Quarterback Brandon Harris showed that he is a true threat on LSU’s offense. Such mistakes could be a death sentence against the Crimson Tide.
Then, Adams stopped Coker, who ran a bootleg to the left, for no gain on fourth down to hand the ball to LSU’s offense for the first time.
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But there was little to shout about for the Tigers defense after that.
